Reliability of laryngostroboscopic evaluation on lesion size and glottal configuration: A revisit

Objectives/Hypothesis This study investigated the inter‐rater and intrarater reliability of four basic visual perceptual parameters (lesion size rating and glottal configuration) in laryngostroboscopic evaluation. Study Design Cohort Study. Methods Two hundred fifty‐five laryngostroboscopic video samples were evaluated by three raters on four measurements: 1) mass lesion size rating, 2) amplitude of vocal fold vibration, 3) supraglottic activity, and 4) shape of the glottal closure using the modified Stroboscopy Examination Rating Form. Results Good inter‐ and intrarater reliability were found in rating the lesion size (0.75–0.81, P = .001), anteroposterior supraglottic activity (0.64, P = .001), and glottal closure (0.65, P = .001). Inter‐rater reliability in evaluating the mediolateral supraglottic activity and the amplitude of vocal fold vibration were low to moderate (0.50 and 0.46, respectively, P = .001), whereas the intrarater reliability was more variable (0.2–0.70). Conclusions The findings indicated that the evaluation of static structures like lesion size rating, the anteroposterior supraglottic compression, and the glottal closure is a relatively reliable method. The evaluation of dynamic structures, such as the vocal fold vibratory amplitude measure was, however, found to be of low reliability. Level of Evidence NALaryngoscope, 124:1638–1644, 2014